BEFORE this season, Ben Barba was considered too small and too dodgy under the high ball to be rugby league's finest player.A tryscoring freak, no doubt. But the best in the business? Not yet.With a new coach in Des Hasler bound for Belmore, rumours swirled about the Bulldogs wanting to sign Brett Stewart or Josh Dugan.Today, the diminutive Barba stands head and shoulders above the rest of the NRL as a runaway winner of the Dally M Medal at a glittering black-tie function at Sydney Town Hall.To underline his dominance this season, Barba finished the home-and-away rounds with 32 votes - six clear of Cowboys veteran Matt Bowen (26). Storm halfback Cooper Cronk was third (25).It is the largest winning margin since Andrew Johns claimed the Dally M Medal by eight points from Bulldogs halfback Brent Sherwin in 2002, when the Knights playmaker was arguably at the peak of his powers.A humbled Barba was also crowned Fullback of the Year and claimed the Provan-Summons People's Choice Award and the Peter Frilingos Memorial Award for that magical length-of-the-field try he set up for Josh Morris against the Storm in round 16.GALLERY: All the action from the Dally M red carpetAll that remains now is for Barba to cap a season to remember with a premiership, starting with Manly this Friday night at ANZ Stadium.He has never played in an NRL final before, but it would take a brave soul to write the little fella off.Unlike vote counts of recent years, it was clear well before the final round that Barba would be walking out of the Town Hall wearing the Dally M bling.Details: All the winners from league's big nightWhen voting went underground from round 16, Barba was ranked fifth - three votes behind Cronk (19), Bowen and Cowboys captain Johnathan Thurston (both 17).Barba assumed the lead in round 18 when he was awarded three votes for his dazzling display against

By round 22, he had established a five-point buffer and his consistent form over the past month sealed his victory.GALLERY: Ben Barba's year in picsSouths fullback Greg Inglis's three-match suspension for a shoulder charge on Dean Young did not cost him the medal. Inglis would have finished fifth overall despite nine votes being deducted because of the suspension.In so many respects, Barba's spectacular emergence this season is everything the game needs, not least in the west of Sydney.If the AFL reckons it provides an opportunity for young players of small stature, surely it will appease concerned mothers that Barba can grow into a 90kg and 174cm frame to become rugby league's No.1 player.Not that long ago, former Bulldogs coaches Steve Folkes and Kevin Moore held Barba back because of his size."It would be a lie if I said it didn't frustrate me," he has said. "Everyone wants to play first grade. I was thinking, 'I know I can make a difference'."But I thank the people who held me back then so I didn't learn the hard way and it made the transition a little easier."My size was an issue for me. I always thought I was never big enough. And I'm not going to lie now: I still see some of those big blokes on the field and think, 'I'll avoid them'. But eventually they'll get tired. You just have to keep running."GALLERY: 2012 Dally M winnersFrom little things, big things grow. Under Hasler, many Bulldogs players have grown in confidence off the back of a work ethic that hasn't been evident at Belmore for some years.As Barba said last week: "We're very lucky to have Des at our club. It's the belief he's given me. He knew the deficiencies in my game. He knew where and why I struggled with catching and my defence. He just said hard work and dedication would get me there."It got him there, all the way to last night's Dally M Medal. Herald Sun News